By Abdulraman Salam

I have watched with dismay recent attacks on government by groups purporting to protect the interest of Ilorin on land and religious issues. These groups deliberately heat up the polity by fanning divisive issues in the pursuit of unstated political agenda. In the process of trying to pitch the public against government, they create needless tension among the various people that make up this great state.  The latest in the series is a publication/law suit by so-called Ilorin Elders questioning the government’s lease of the Ilorin Amusement Park to a private investor.

First, a lesson in elementary economics is appropriate. Land on its own is worthless; so are decaying government facilities. Land acquires economic worth when value is added to it in the form of infrastructure, buildings or modernisation. In doing that, the place acquires value and provides economic gains in terms of jobs and increased economic activities. So properly utilised land is a potent ingredient of economic growth apart from being a primary factor of production. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let us return to the issue at hand.

Ordinarily, that reported law suit and the shocking decision to list Mrs Toyin Saraki as a defendant will have been chalked up as mere politicking and the latest in the series of attacks on the Saraki family. After all, since Bukola Saraki stepped into his late father’s shoes as the leader of Kwara Politics, it has been open season for these minority Ilorin groups who it seems, will stop at nothing to challenge the Senator. But that is not the object of this piece. Rather, my focus is on conflating potentially-beneficial investments with politics and the attendant risk of economic loss.

As an interested observer, I am compelled to draw our ‘Elders’ and indeed all genuine Ilorin leaders’ attention to the dangers to Ilorin, and indeed the state, of politicising issues that have potent economic impact e.g.  foreign investments. Foreign investments go where there is potential for profit and also to places that are business-friendly and conducive to success. That should be obvious to anyone who claims good education, as I am sure members of these groups do.

It beats the imagination, therefore, that the government’s decision to lease the Ilorin Amusement Park to private investors who plan to construct a shopping mall and entertainment arcade will be politicised by these so-called elders with a mix of partisan and ethnic agenda. Like the Kwara Mall and Shoprite whose opening in Ilorin have led to the creation of hundreds of jobs for Kwarans and changed the economic landscape of Kwara State, the arrival of Park and Shop and a games arcade at Ilorin Amusement Park will create several hundred more jobs and significantly boost economic activities in the state. That is as clear as crystal.

It therefore befuddles the mind that these so-called elders who claim to be champions of Ilorin interest are questioning this laudable investment coup. How can anyone masquerading as champion of Ilorin interest politicise a project that will create jobs for our youths, stimulate beneficial economic activities and attract other investments to the state? Do these so-called elders realise that their ill-advised actions can discourage other potential investors from coming to Kwara State? How can any potential investor want to invest in a state where some people antagonise new businesses?

To the point, how many jobs have these ostensibly successful Ilorin businessmen and professionals created for the jobless youths in Oloje, Agaka, Alore, Pakata and other inner city areas plagued by youth unemployment? Who can they confidently assert that they provided jobs for or economically empowered? As the mark of the true elder is his ability to enhance his community in whatever way, can these lots raise their hands to be counted as contributors to the Ilorin economy? No.

Besides, where were these elders when the park was overtaken by weeds and was generally decaying? Why did they not take the state government to court at the time for letting the place go to waste? Why did they not offer to invest in the park as the foreign investor has done? Truth is that won’t fit into what I surmise to be these groups’ agenda.

My analysis of the brouhaha over the lease of Ilorin Amusement Park, which these people mischievously refer to as Old Yidi to whip up religious sentiment, is that the leasing of  the park to a private company is the latest platform for attacking the government for partisan reasons. Under the guise of protecting Ilorin interest, these personalities use land and religion, two emotive issues to whip up sentiments for their own political agenda. Having failed to secure power or relevance through formal politicking, these so-called Ilorin elders are hiding behind bogus community groups to execute their political agenda.

I have some news for these groups, however. As an interested and politically- astute Ilorin youth, I and my contemporaries have seen through your shenanigans. You will not revive your failed political agenda on the platforms of Ilorin, Islam or land. As the Americans will say, you have been busted. We have seen through your act and figured out what you really are: political elements seeking relevance through phantom groups and misinformation. We, the youths of Ilorin, have figured out your  intentions. We will not let you achieve selfish political interests at the expense of our ancient city’s economic prosperity and the state’s growth.

If you must pursue your political ambitions, don’t stand in the way of our getting through other means, jobs that you failed to provide or influence.  Don’t scare away those from outside our state who seek to bring more prosperity to Ilorin and indeed, Kwara. Don’t turn Ilorin into outcasts in Kwara’s political firmament by marking us out as anti-progressive or selfish. Ilorin people are just one of several people in this state. And Kwara is bigger than all of us.

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